American Express (NYSE:AXP) Price Target Increased to $253.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $250.00 to $253.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the payment services company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of American Express from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $239.23 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $221.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.53. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.